CMA and reserve acounting

Does anyone on here use CMA for property Mngt? We currently use them for a HOA of about 100 homes. I just want to get an idea of how they do their reserve accounting for you. We are now at the point were we can put money into our reserve account for future expenditures, but all they are doing is lumping it all into one savings account. The transfers are itemized on the budget and on the monthly statements for the different items, but once the money is transferred, there is no real accounting for it on the savings side....So for example, without doing some math and looing back at a few years of the budget, say 5 to 6 years down the road we would not know what sums of money are set aside to save for what items. There would just be a big sum of money in the reserve account not knowing how much was set aside for each individual item....
Just want to know if this is normal or not and if anyone uses them...

Make Sense??

Thx

Ok sorry. I tried to edit the post but could not see how to do it.

So as far as your income/expense statement for your reserve account, are the monthly deposits just shown as deposits into 1 line item, or are they divided
up and deposited into separate line items for each reserve expense. We have separate line item deposits each month for various items into the reserve fund, but once it's in the separate reserve account we have no idea what money is allocated to what...

Wild,

My Association uses the component level method when dealing with Reserves.
We provide a spreadsheet showing each component additions and withdrawals, as well as a Reserve account summary. However, our financial report only shows the deposits made to the account with expenses grouped into broader categories (playground vs. swingset, slide, etc.).

However, each method has it's own advantages and disadvantages.

There is the component level method (also known as straight lining), which allocates a certain amount to each component. This results in the need for higher reserves but better prepares the Association for the unexpected.

The Cash flow method treats the reserves as one big pot of money. As long as there is enough money in the account when needed everything is good. This method allows the Association to maintain a lower Reserve balance but may require a special assessment if the unexpected occurs (item planned to be replaced in 2020 needs replaced in 2017).

To learn more see:

Reserve Studies Component Method vs. Cash Flow Analysis

Choosing Between Straight Line and Cash Flow Funding

CASH FLOW VERSUS THE COMPONENT METHOD

Also see:

Subject: Reserve Studies/Funds 101 a thread on this forum (some of the earlier broken links are corrected later in the thread).

My suggestion is to read a little of the info I provided and then ask the Association the following:

1) May I have a copy or may I review the reserve study?
2) Does the Association utilize the component or cash flow/straight line method for reserves?
3) Is there a more detailed financial report for the Reserves (and if so, may I have a copy)?

Wild

Some have their Reserves broken down into many items. Some do not. The more complex the HOA (pools, tennis, parks, etc.) the better it would break it down along the lines of a Reserve study.

Sorry to say, I didn't read the replies very carefully, Wild. It seems to me you need a reserves study done a by an certified reserves specialists or analyst. CMAs are not qualified to do that work.

Make sure your association has a reserve study. Simply setting aside funds for non-specific items has pitfalls. Specific allocation of reserve funds to the individual components of the reserve study will generally be a more conservative approach as it theoretically restricts the use of funds to the amount set aside for the specific component. However, my experience is that few associations will adhere to the specific allocation when it comes time to replace components ahead of schedule.